Jack Ma left out from list of entrepreneurial leaders published by Chinese state media

Underscoring how far he has fallen out from the favour of the Chinese government, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has not been included in the list of nation’s entrepreneurial leaders published by state media. In the latest snub against Ma who is an internationally-known entrepreneur hailing from China, he was left out of the list published on February 2 by Shanghai Securities News,  a newspaper backed state-run Xinhua News Agency. Instead, Huawei Technologies’ Ren Zhengfei, Xiaomi Corp’s Lei Jun and BYD’s Wang Chuanfu were praised for their respective contributions.

The list was published on the same day Alibaba is scheduled to release its latest quarterly earnings that reportedly might help in assuaging fears that Tencent may get caught up in a broader industry crackdown which is now primarily focussed on  Ma’s Alibaba and Anto Group Co. Ma’s current struggles bud from an October 24, 2020 speech in which he lashed out against the Chinese government’s regulatory system. 

This not only led to the suspension of Ma’s Ant Group’s $37 billion IPO just before fintech giant’s listing but also an anti-trust prove unto tech sector with Alibaba bearing the heat. Meanwhile, regulations have also been tightened for Ant Group are reportedly being considered. 

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Jack Ma reappears, Alibaba stocks jump

Amid months of Alibaba and Chinese government row, Jack Ma only recently reappeared after being reported missing. First posted in a local blog, a video featuring Jack Ma had resurfaced on the internet in which the Ant Financial's billionaire co-founder addresses an annual teachers event that was launched by his foundation in 2015, named the Jack ma Rural Teachers Award. However, the whereabouts of the entrepreneur is still not known to the public and the video did not disclose the place or time of the shoot. Ma, in the video, assures that he would meet after COVID-19 pandemic subsides. 

Following the reappearance of Ma, Alibaba’s stock market value on January 20 jumped providing the Chinese firm $58 billion relief after his live-streamed video. The billionaire business mogul made his first public appearance in nearly three months when the Hong-Kong listed stocks were soaring. He had gone missing since October 24, 2020, and as per Bloomberg report, his video drove the surge of stocks by 8.5 per cent.

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